I grew up on the upper east coast of North Dakota. What cold? We had -100 at one time with windchill!

Froze your eyebrows off. Fashionably accessorized Airforce parkas.

Hmm. We were siblings in a former life. I definitely remember a winter like that. I was stationed at Finley AFS, and we were not allowed to leave the station without our parkas, bunny boots,quilted pants, etc. For good reason. I was even issued a face mask that was lined with fur and had nylon in the front. Really scary looking. I actually lived in a trailer that was so leaky, we were happy when the snow and ice moved into the cracks and created a seal. That particular winter (I went through 3 of them, but this was the worst), the entire trailer was rocking, we had the heat on non-stop, had pots on all burners of the stove with pots of water boiling. Couldn't turn the water off in the bathroom or kitchen, it would have frozen. I never before or since hear electrical wires "sing".

Oh, by the way, I still occaisionally run into people who tell me they don't believe in wind chill. Obviously no one from North Dakota. Our joke was that when we left our assignment, we were heading south until someone asked us why we had an electrical plug dangling from the front of our car.

Do you know where that one comes from? You probably do, but for those who don't, a brass monkey (don't ask me why) is a metalic triangle that looks sort of like the one on a pool table. Cannon balls are stacked on them in a sort of pyramid. When it gets really cold, the metal of the "monkey", the triangle, contracts faster than the balls. And, yes, the balls pop off of the monkey.

Do you know where that one comes from? You probably do, but for those who don't, a brass monkey (don't ask me why) is a metalic triangle that looks sort of like the one on a pool table. Cannon balls are stacked on them in a sort of pyramid. When it gets really cold, the metal of the "monkey", the triangle, contracts faster than the balls. And, yes, the balls pop off of the monkey.

Hmm. We were siblings in a former life. I definitely remember a winter like that. I was stationed at Finley AFS, and we were not allowed to leave the station without our parkas, bunny boots,quilted pants, etc. For good reason. I was even issued a face mask that was lined with fur and had nylon in the front. Really scary looking. I actually lived in a trailer that was so leaky, we were happy when the snow and ice moved into the cracks and created a seal. That particular winter (I went through 3 of them, but this was the worst), the entire trailer was rocking, we had the heat on non-stop, had pots on all burners of the stove with pots of water boiling. Couldn't turn the water off in the bathroom or kitchen, it would have frozen. I never before or since hear electrical wires "sing".

Your comment reminds me of growing up in a drafty old farmhouse. My Grandmother would leave the kitchen sink cupboard doors open and the water running a small stream to keep it from freezing! The house had no central heating on the second floor only registers cut into the floor so the heat could drift up to the bedrooms from downstairs. In the morning we would run down and stand on the hot air registers to warm up. No one minded because everyone we knew lived the same way.